The War on the EPA: America's Endangered Environmental Protections

by William M Alley, Rosemarie Alley

As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nears the half century mark, the public is largely apathetic towards the need for environmental protections. Today's problems are largely invisible, and to many people's eyes, the environment looks like it's doing just fine. The crippling smog and burning rivers of yesteryear are just a memory. In addition, Americans are repeatedly told that the EPA is hurting the economy, destroying jobs, and intruding into people's private lives. The truth is far more complicated. The War on the EPA: America's Endangered Environmental Protections examines the daunting hurdles facing the EPA in its critical roles in drinking water, air and water pollution, climate change, and toxic chemicals. This book takes the reader on a journey into some of today's most pressing environmental problems: toxic "forever chemicals" known as PFAS, pervasive agricultural pollution, dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico, and widespread air and water pollution from use of fossil fuels. Delving into the science, politics, and human dimension of these and other problems, the book illustrates the challenges of regulation, how today's war on science is undermining the scientific foundation upon which the agency's legitimacy rests, and why a strong U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is more important than ever before.

Genres: Nonfiction

304 pages, Hardcover

Published February 8, 2020

Reviews

[Alan Kolok · Rating 4 out of 5]

The terms, Environmental Protection Agency, the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act have become firmly entangled into the modern (post World War II) American lexicon. For some they represent government doing the right thing in the face of overwhelming odds. For others they evoke feelings of the Federal government overreaching and over regulating. Nevertheless, the history of how the EPA and those two sentinel acts came into being, and how the interpretation of those acts has been influenced by one president after another is not well understood by the average American. The War on the EPA puts those histories under the microscope and into sharp focus. It is at the same time an easy read and a profound historical resource, and has earned a place on my bookshelf. Highly recommended!